Countdown to Tübingen

the more the word appears in the sermon, the bigger it appears in the image

Here are the top ten lines from my sermon at Tuckerfirst this morning:

• What we experience undoubtedly shapes our faith – and that makes us witnesses.
• [Jesus'] part in the STORY OF HUMANITY doesn’t mean a thing without YOU.
• Maybe a weekly worship service isn’t what some people need right now.
• To really share Christ with someone, something else has to happen first… We have to allow them to experience Christ’s love rather than just tell them about it or invite them to church to be told about it.
• Our goal in these relationships is never to convert anybody or to “win souls” – a real Christ-like relationship should have no conditions attached to it.
• We do as much as we can to reflect acceptance, love, patience, and as many other Christ-like traits as we can to allow as many people as we can to *witness* Christ through us, and God usually does the rest.
• But really, our focus should be on getting people to BE the church rather than sit IN the church.
• If we can share Christ by making a positive difference in our community and convincing other people to start making a difference, too, then I would call that success.
• Every person’s witness to the world is going to be different, because everybody’s experience and understanding of God is different.
• The Great Commission is Great because does not limit us as to how to share Christ with the world.

My sermon notes: linky

The first three team members to leave for Globalscope Germany share their thoughts on the Great Commission and where they are around a rousing game of Settlers of Catan.

if you are involved in a conflict with a bear like the one pictured here, report it to a park ranger

Well, I hope you’re satisfied. All summer you’ve been longing, waiting, wishing for the onset of autumn at 3:40pm on Monday, September 22. You might not have said it out loud, but in your silent prayers you were asking for an end to the cursed heat, the beads of sweat rolling down your back while walking from your car to the entrance, the uncomfortable rolling around in bed at night because you can’t get comfortable. And you got it.

Fall came in with a 65 degree bang this morning, and I don’t think it has any intention of leaving any time soon. Well, not for a couple months, at least. Cooler weather provides us with yet another insight into our soon-to-be ministry, as only coffee from Mighty Joe Espresso can prompt…

Reason 42: European Weather

Are you near a window right now? You are? Check the sky. What color is it? Blue? You lucky dog.

Not everybody in the world is blessed with pleasant weather the way you are. Take our brethren in England. It is a rare day that the sun shines on the city of Birmingham. More likely, your Sunday through Saturday forecast consists largely of the words “overcast”, “clouds”, “drizzle”, “gray”, “depressing”, “cold”, and, if you are not generously within the margins of summer, “snow”.

Such is the weather in England, and so is the weather in Germany. Now, take Chandler, our teammate who most resembles a bear in size, strength, and facial hair. He is one of those who has been wishing for cooler weather from the depths of his soul before summer even began. You need look no further for somebody to thrive in the German climate, as evidenced by the quote below…

Chandler: “I can’t wait for the cold, when you walk out the door and your snot freezes inside your nose.” He sighs longingly, looking off into the distance, as if trying to hasten the arrival of the autumnal equinox with his mind.

Myself, I’m more of a summer kind of guy, but that may be because Atlanta’s eternal summer is all I’ve ever known. Tübingen’s climate will provide some opportunities that other Globalscopes don’t have – including sledding down the giant hill behind our campus house and really intense baptisms in the Neckar river. But the next time you are walking across the parking lot, feeling the waves of heat from the asphalt assault your body and your soul, remember those around the world who can only dream about experiencing that kind of heat.

This Wednesday, our first three teammates will leave for Germany! Fearless leader Beth will have a Coleman on either side as they fly buddy-pass style to Stuttgart and take a train to Schwäbisch Hall for language school.

In the meantime, the Colemans leave behind them in the states a video to help them continue raising support in their absence. Have a look above.

in mailboxes this friday

Rarely has there been such a productive day for support raising. Not only did I meet every goal in my list – but I surpassed them. Overachievements displayed in italics.

• Photos: printed. Brand spankin’ new ask letters: seven published, personalized, awaiting address and stamp.
• Cast ye your eyes upon the submitted postcard design above – all 4 by 6 inches of it.
• Follow-up letter: written. Letters to old school friends: also written – and sent!
• Printer: jogged. Mailbox: satiated with six letters. There will be more.
• Lunch with two supporters! Bam! New monthly commitments! Lunch date next week with new supporters! Seafood!
• Called to arrange appointment with Sunday class at Tuckerfirst.

30% monthly is Joe Frazier, and I’m Ali.

it's never too early to start your toddler on caffeine

This morning finds itself at the corner table of Mighty Joe Espresso once again. Mighty Joe is on a mission: to bring caffeine to the entire populace of the 30084 area code. And today, we can celebrate a new milestone in that mission as six parents and their six, seven, eight children total – all age 3 or less – sit around and enjoy coffee and/or cheerios. It’s a real scream. Seriously, my earbud headphones are cranked way up to blanket the screaming.

A note on earbud headphones: The great thing about earbuds is that nobody can hear what you are listening to. The downfall of earbuds is that you can hear what everybody else is listening to. Which brings us to…

Reason 43: Ze German Children

Taking care of a child here in the states is a full-time job. You can’t really trust anybody outside of yourself to raise your child the way you would want your child raised. That’s why there are five stay-at-home moms and one stay-at-home dad across the way from me right now watching their kids climb over the store counter and pull potted plants from the shelves.

But walking through a German town like Tübingen might shift your paradigm on this particular subject. During the normal school day, you are likely to see hundreds of school children – as young as Kindergarten (thanks for the name, Germany!) walking the streets independent of chaperones, merrily singing on their way to school, decked in their colorful square backpacks and finest kiddie-sized jackets and scarves. How can the kids be trusted make the two or three mile hike to school on their own? How can you trust the rest of the town to let your kid make that hike both ways five days a week?

It’s just a general sense of trust amongst the German people. Tübingen may be more like Mayberry than we realize – a Mayberry with cobblestone streets and a castle. If you can trust the people of Tübingen with your toddler then you can trust the people of Tübingen with your campus minister (me). Rest assured, sleep well at night, breathe easier knowing that your personal campus minister that you send your monthly support to is working hard to become one of the German people that you hear all those positive things about, and that you could trust him with your toddler, too.

Here’s a list of what to expect from tomorrow’s dedicated support-raising day:

• Print out pictures from family reunion this weekend – mail brand spankin’ new ask letters to respective family.
• Send postcard design to CMF’s art department before lunch. Gotta turn those pending commitments into monthly commitments.
• Write a follow-up letter to send out to one-time supporters to ask for monthly.
• Print and send as many letters as possible.
• Lunch with supporter? No. Lunch with supporter.

Baptist minister, Harvard professor and author Peter J. Gomes was interviewed on the Colbert Report tonight. Gomes was able to not only match Colbert in wit, but also to iterate some points from his new book in which he discusses the revolutionary nature of Jesus – not an insignificant task, especially for a preeminent Christian figure on the show. Gomes even threw in a sex joke. Three points. To quote NPR:

The author argues that people tend to focus too much on who Jesus was and what he would do when “the question should be, ‘What would Jesus have me do?’”

You can listen to him read from his book The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus on NPR’s site here: linky.

oregon: where the trail is home

Just like every American school child is given the chance to become a creative genius when they receive his or her first box of crayons in Kindergarten; every American child is given the chance to become a world-class pioneer when he plays Oregon Trail for the first time in Third Grade.

Forget the Antarctic wastelands and the Ross Ice Shelf. You can have your uncharted depths of the deepest trenches and darkest oceans. I don’t want to go to the moon, I don’t need any Terra Incognita. Just give me Willamette Valley.

The call westward was the first call for adventure I ever heard. Pack up your stuff, buy some axles, score some bullets, and hit the road. There’s only one way out of Independence, Missouri in 1848 and that’s WEST. West past Chimney Rock. West past Fort Laramie and west past Fort Bridger.

The call was to everyone rich and poor: farmers, doctors, carpenters, bankers. Third graders, fourth graders, fifth graders, sixth.

There is no choice about whether or not to leave – that’s the game. The only question you get to answer is: when.

That is the call of Broderbund and the floppy disk. That you would risk everything – wagon, livestock, your own family – against dysentery and fording the river and yellow fever and writing the epitaph for your own tombstone on the side of the road…

All for the promise of a new land and a beautiful four-color screenshot and a high score.

Are we so different now than we were in third grade? Sure, the game has changed, but the call is still there. Pack up your stuff, buy some Mountain Dews, score some Nutter Butters, and hit the road. There’s only one way out of here, and that’s… up to you. The call is to everyone. There is no choice about whether or not to leave – that’s the game. This is your calling. What are you willing to risk? How do you calculate your high score?

Cafe CCF Art Devotional / 9.11.2008

Greetings once again from support raising central – Mighty Joe Espresso, caffeine distribution center for the once-largest unincorporated town in the U.S. of A: Tucker, Georgia. Today represents a turning point in the birth of our ministry… Atlanta Christian College was kind enough to commission us this morning as our team leader prepares to leave with all of her support raised. Next week, Beth Jarvis, our senior member and fearless leader is fearlessly traveling to the field alone to fearlessly start language training, fearlessly. Afterwards, she will begin work as a campus minister by meeting people and creating as many quality friendships as possible. Hopefully, it will not be long until we join her.

The Colemans are in hot pursuit of Beth. Our team’s married couple aims to be there by the end of the month.

As for me, I received blessings from Globalscope Boss Naomi to go into full-time support raising once I reach 30%. 40+ hours a week to work on Globalscope should help my monthly support raising – the big hurdle to getting to the field – by “increasing the increase of our income” (thank you, Be Kind, Rewind). I am currently at just below 20%. A big push to make 30% will open up lots of doors. If you would like to help me reach the 30% mark, don’t hesitate to fill out our online support form (link) or email me for more info!